Jade & Becks’s Big Walk

Jade, Becks’s mum and Becks

In a post a few weeks ago, amongst other people on journeys, I mentioned Jade & Becks, who had set out from John O’Groats in mid-June and I said that we hoped to catch up with them when they passed through our neck of the woods. That very nearly didn’t happen, because having left them a note on their blog a good couple of weeks ago they then didn’t get internet access to see my comment until this Monday.

By good fortune (from any number of points of view) they ran out of gas at the end of last week, and on Saturday discovered that it’s not possible to buy replacement canisters in Uttoxeter, so in desperation put a post on Facebook (via their phones) asking whether anyone near to Uttoxeter happened to have some spare gas.

What they really didn’t expect was a positive response, but soon arrangements were made: Mick & I met up with them (and Becks’s mum, who is walking with them for a couple of weeks) just north of Abbot’s Bromley on Sunday morning (which conveniently was about as near to us as they were going to get; they couldn’t have picked a better place to put out a plea for gas!).

When we met them it became apparent that a lack of gas was not their only problem. Jade was hobbling along, obviously injured and in a lot of pain (yet in incredibly good humour; I wish I could deal with pain that well).

At the first rest stop the likely reason for Jade’s injury became more apparent. We already knew that her pack was large, but when she took it off I found that I couldn’t lift it – and she’s just carried that for the best part of 750 miles.

Having walked with them as far as Rugeley, it was back to our house for all of us, where one of the first things I did was to weigh the packs. Hold onto your seats, chaps: Jade’s pack weighed in at over 25kg. Did I mention that she’s managed to carry that for the best part of 750 miles? Beck’s was a more modest, but still heavy, 16kg. These are two girls with a lot of fortitude!

Big pack!

A more modest pack

In an effort to help Jade’s leg recover, they had a packless day on Monday. Mick dropped them back off in Rugeley in the morning and picked them up from south of Lichfield in the afternoon (I was at work the whole time, desperately wishing that I was out walking), to have another night with us. Jade was still hobbling badly, but did look a little bit better for not having carried a pack and for having had a gentle day along the canals (nice and flat and, most importantly, no stiles).

It was obviously time for drastic action and whilst I would perhaps usually save my bluntness until I’ve known someone for more than two days, I was brutal in my review of Jade’s pack contents. She’ll probably hate me forever for that brutality, but I figured that at this point it was more important to try to get her to the finish line than to be polite.

Expressing great shock as the contents of the pack come out!

Being a good sport, she let us pick through every single item in that pack. There were some items that she argued vehemently to keep and despite our best efforts we couldn’t talk her into parting with those, but most items she accepted needed to go. Thanks to our excessive stash of kit, there were also plenty of things that we were able to substitute for lighter items (I really want these girls to succeed having made it this far).

So, Jade, Becks and Beck’s mum set out yesterday morning with Jade wearing my Osprey Aura 50 (which, empty, weighs 2.5kg less than her pack), with my Rab Quantum 400W sleeping bag (1.2kg less than her bag), my pink Thermarest Prolite (only 150g lighter, but less bulky too, which was an important consideration in fitting everything in a 50litre pack), and my sleeping bag liner (another 150g gone), not to mention the folding plate in substitute for her x-plate (another 100+g) and a plastic mug in place of her x-mug (another 50g). With her clothes stash slashed and numerous other items having been discarded or substituted, the result was that today she set out with a pack weighing in at 13.6kg – a weight that even I could carry (albeit with quite a bit of whinging). “It feels like I’ve not even got a pack on!” she declared.

I cannot tell you how much I admire these two for setting out on such a journey at their age. Moreover, for the fact that with a tight budget they’re camping all of the way. My fingers are firmly crossed that Jade’s leg gets better with less weight on her back and that they do make it to Land’s End.

They’re not just doing this for fun. They’re also collecting for Children’s Hospice South West, via a Virgin Money Giving. If you have a few spare pennies that you’re looking to give to charity this month, then I’m sure both the girls and the Children’s Hospice will appreciate it going in their direction.

(Hope Jade & Becks don’t mind that I’ve stolen three of their photos for this post!)